3/4/00

Alright. As you might be able to see, I have changed the layout of the site. Hopefully, this will eliminate a significant portion of the annoying image mass and clutter that plagued it before. Now that this is done, I can start getting serious about adding content.
I have removed the 3e section because I have found a site that does more in regard to the impending release of the D&D Third Edition than I could ever hope to accomplish. For any all information about AD&D Third Edition visit Eric Noah's Third Edition News. You won't be disappointed.

On a totally different note, I have recently fallen back into the old school SNES RPG scene. I have had an emulator wasting away on my system for some time, and after getting terrified in System Shock II, I decided to start up a game of Final Fantasy 6/3 (pick one). It amazes me that I am still left in awe of Nobuo Uematsu's musical abilities. 
Normally, I am a very ethical Netizen. I will never, ever download emulation games or MP3s (all my MP3s are ripped directly from my own CDs) or normal retail games I don't own. But I recently heard about how cool Seiken Densetsu 3 was. 
 For those of you who don't know, the Seiken series is known as Secret of Mana in America. 
Unfortunately, the only item from the Seiken series to be imported was SoM. Dammit all, right? Then I saw a translator for the Japanese translation of Seiken Densetsu 3. 
The game is four years old and was never even given an opportunity to succeed in an American market, so I felt well within my rights in downloading it. 
Wow.
I am not very far yet, but this game is badass. You even get to hand pick your starting characters and your eventual allies right at the get-go. This means that you could replay it several times with very different experiences. The translation is dead-on, I think, which means that it reads like it was written for eighth-graders-- an unfortunate backtrack from the jaw-dropping Planescape: Torment-- and that it was a standard save-the-world-and-your-ass storyline, but that's what old school RPGs are about, so I'm not complaining. 
Play this game. 
It is not a long download, and it is a nice burst of fun from the past. I will only provide the game and some links to emulation pages. 
Remember this: It is illegal to possess a copy of any retail console game on your computer for longer than 24 hours unless you own a copy of the original cartridge. Let's not shortchange the developers of the games we love so much. I personally make this one exception because of what I feel are somewhat mitigating circumstances. Here are some links to good SNES Emulators. 

• I use ZSNES exclusively and love it. 

• Some people feel SNES9x is superior. If you use Mac and/or Linux this is the one to use until you buy a real computer.

• You can try other emulators, but you will eventually narrow it down to these two. They are really your only options.

It's really a matter of preference, I guess.

I have also discovered the insipidly funny Penny Arcade. If you enjoy laughing, and you all should, visit this site. It updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I guarantee that you will find something you enjoy. 

2/2/00

Heh. I have been very busy uploading to a new server. The old site will be up as a mirror for a month or so, but eventually, the Tripod site will be nothing but a link to the new page at 

http://www.nealok.com

Yay. Also, my new e-mail address will be nealok@nealok.com. There are still some kinks in the service that need to be worked out (like the counter above), but overall, the transition should be very smooth. I have a bucket full of homework for this upcoming week, but I really have been working on the content for the page, so there should be some nifty stuff in rapid succession very soon.

1/27/00

I have uploaded the reviews section,  although I have no reviews yet. I have also added little things in other sections, although they are in rather trace amounts, so not worth mentioning here. I will be adding content as much as possible this weekened, so stay tuned and coming back.
Oh, and in updating I noticed something in a previous news update about Hunter: The Reckoning. I can't review it, as it is outside the genre boundaries for this site, but the game gets a glaring eight thousand thumbs down from me. You owe it to yourself to burn every copy of this game you can find. White Wolf, you should be ashamed of yourself for releasing it. I will probably cover crap games in another release of Dragon's Breath, but until then, you will just have to trust me: Hunter sucks. 

1/17/00

This will be a long update, so I will try to make it structurally easier to read:
Very belated Happy New Year, I guess.
As you might have noticed, there has been a severe blight in the way of updates. Oops. Sorry about that; yet, oddly, the site's traffic has, at least by my standards, exploded. I suppose that obligates me to update, doesn't it?
Strapped for cash and time, I have made two decisions: 
a.) There will be no new interface. I am too lazy to do the coding necessary to make a spiffy java run site (which I was in the middle of coding) look good. When I become better at programming, maybe. 
b.) I am now in the Amazon Associates Program, so I will be including nifty links and-- more promises of actual content-- reviews for your pleasure and my wallet.
Also, several things just need to be said:

• Planescape: Torment absolutely kicks ass. I will review it when I have the time, but I am stupefied by this game.

• There is a Dungeons and Dragons movie busting on out, so be excited.

• The new Dragon has two pages of the changes in store for 3e clerics. Hopefully TSR will add it to their 3e section, and I can copy it from there. Otherwise, buy the book.

• I'm not as excited about it as I was about Torment or BG, but Pool of Radiance II: The Ruins of Myth Drannor should be out some time around the release of 3e... along with Neverwinter Nights and BG2: Shadows of Amn. Um... SSI has BETTER be shaking in their boots.

For all the above things, I have included links in the appropriate sections. Over the next few days, I will be updating the whole site in slight increments, so don't expect too much in the way of updates on this page. I will return with an update around next Friday or Monday to point out changes and just steer in the right direction.

10/28/99

Hmmm... I noticed the extraordinarily long load times you 28.8 users are getting, (One of you has to be still in the Dark Ages, right?) and I got to work on a new site design. Good for me. Added some new magic items that I have been working on this week. Also updated the Chronicle area. Two days of playing and WHEW!

10/27/99- Updated the chronicle page slightly, and probably will again today. Also added some buttons at the bottom of the page; click on them and see.

10/26/99- From what I understand, Hunter: The Reckoning shipped yesterday, so, if you are at all interested in WoD, maybe you want to check it out (in the fiction page.). I am working on some more AD&D stuff that should be up by Friday, much to the chagrin of my neglected Latin paper.

10/21/99- Dammit All. I finally got FrontPage up and running again.
 Yay. 
So you will all start coming back regularly, n'est pas? How's my French? I have started a section about the Mage Chronicle I just began, and I added a new Rules Hospital. Keep on rocking.

8/23/99- I am settled at Sewanee, and most importantly, with my T1 connection. Naturally, since I am a beta tester for Asheron's Call, I will be doing lots of that and letting you know how that's going. I also have updated various portions of the site; check the dates to see what's new. 

8/16/99- Bought Aberrant a few weeks ago, then I bought Trinity. Aberrant looks particularly exciting, but try buying it first, then read the section about Aberrents in Trinity. Also purchased the Guide to the Technocracy; now that is the mindbending book of the century. 
I added  a section dedicated to the boards and Third Edition and reconfigured the page's banner so that it's the normal size of a page banner. Smart me, right? The third rules hospital should be up in a little while, although none of you will know this until such time the next update is posted (when I am at college). I just wanted to put this hear to avoid an extra long post for the 23rd.

5/24/99- Haven't updated technically, I just wanted to let any visitors know what's up. I have just finished playing in Exeter's production of Marat/Sade, and it has taken huge chunk of my time from all aspects of my life. I know that not many people drop by here to begin with, but the few who do deserve some explanation.
I am updating. I am.
I am planning a major update some time this week. Please keep coming back, and when I have a lazy summer to work on this page, you can bet that it will be updated as much as we all want it to be. Also, if you like what I have, vote for me on the Top 100. I am 60-something right now. Not a good place to be.

5/14/99- Updated the Items section and the Rules revisions. Talkin' about White Wolf with an emphasis on Mage: The Ascension. Also added a bunch of original items, including my new favorite NPC bitch-slapper, the Cloak of Mogrod. Yes, they will run.  I will be putting up new classes and races some time over the weekend, as well as some NPC's and items. Thanks for dropping by.

5/13/99- Woo-hoo! I'm on the Internet! Seriously, if you want to see ME, go here: http://www.exeter.edu/videos/drama.mov
and watch the "DRAMA" video. I'm the guy who does the sword-fighting on the left hand-side of the fight-scenes--which means I am the guy on the lefthand side of the little icon you click on to watch the movie. There's a point during the movie where they say, "And that's Mercutio." Well that's me!

[this video has been taken off the 'net for some reason. Sorry.]
Oh, and as for NRPGR stuff, I have NO CLASSES tomorrow! So I can update all day! I am going to wake up at 4 to do so.

5/12/99- (sort of...really late at night)- Sorry about the gap between updates. I have had Phantom Menace on the brain(!!!!!!!!!!), and those are the sites I have been visiting. That said, some people are sick. I have a busy day today, but I will try to update with some new links tonight. I only have one class Friday, so I will hopefully be updating like a fool by noon. I am working on the first edition of the Scrite setting, as well as its pertinent classes and races. I am also just trying to come up with some fresh items, classes, and races. Just letting you know that any day now the page will have a bunch of new material; I have been thinking about it, so don't despair.

5/9/99- I added another rules revision and a rant. Still not showing up on search engines. Gotta get to work on that.

5/7/99- Submitted the site to the AD&D Top 100. Yee-ha. Also, added the Kly-re class to the new classes section. Updated the important news to state how much I would LOVE feedback (HINT). I also took the general video games links off the page. Why on earth would a fantasy RPG page have a general video game links section?

5/6/99- I added material to the humor section, and added its source to the credits section. For a site that I want to be mostly original, I am taking an awful lot of other people's material. Oh, well. Very excited about Tales of the Sword Coast. It is in production right now, and should be in stores next week. Let's all bond together and use or telekinetic powers to speed along the process. I am going to get food right now, and when I get back, I am going to add about a dozen links to the page. Hold on tight, and I'll be right back.

5/4/99- Ah, it feels so professional having a deadline. Oh, no, it bites. I updated a bunch of the links (woo, boy, it has just begun). I also moved the updated when to the bottom of the page. Keep on coming, because I will keep on updating.

5/3/99-Bah, I am, like, #10, 000 on the search engines. BUT if you look up "Nealok" in AltaVista (I don't know why you would.), you get here. Great. I also added my first edition of the rules revisions, so now there is actual content. Wow. Nothing much else.

5/2/99-Still not much content, but I got the credits section up (I think it was probably the most important as far as my conscience goes). I also implemented most of the partition images for all the sections except the video games section. Also submitted to all the search engines I could fit into an hour.